Dan Wheldon has admitted that it is very much a case of 'what will be will be' as the Briton attempts to secure his second straight IRL title in the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway.

Wheldon claimed his maiden title last year before defecting to Chip Ganassi Racing for 2006 – although his debut win at Homestead remains his only win of the year going into the season finale.

“Anytime you can win your first race with a new team in such a competitive championship is a great achievement,” Wheldon said. “I would have to say that is my highlight. Ultimately, would I want that to be my highlight of the season? Not really. It's just a race win.

“For me, personally, I was desperate to win the Indy 500 again. I was quietly confident that we were capable of doing that. I think everyone should be commended for the performance we had there. Everybody was talking about Hornish, and I respect Roger Penske and Sam immensely. They were very quick the whole month. For us, we were very quick, but it was one of those situations that cost us that victory.”

Despite a season filled with disappointment – after the punctured tyre at Indianapolis and botched pit stops at Texas and Kentucky which robbed him of potential wins – Wheldon arrives at the final round of the year in a position that could yet see him take the title.

“It's always very hard when you have a very successful season to go into the following year and expect to do the same when you're up against very stiff competition,” he said. “At the same time, when you consider how fast our race cars have been, do I think I could have won six races? If things had panned out different. Obviously, Chip brought me into the team to win. I've only won one race. I hope to deliver more than that.

“I definitely believe somebody upstairs is giving me a shot at the championship. When you consider what's happened to me and you consider the points between the teams we're racing and the points we've thrown away. We're still very close. If it's meant to be. It's meant to be.”